Replacement Front Landing jacks

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  • #69416
    KbergevinKbergevin
    Participant
      • Topics - 2
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      • Total - 3

      I have a 2009 Cameo F37RE3 and I’ve had several issues with my front landing jacks. As a result, I’m thinking about replacing/upgrading them to something stronger and more reliable. Dual motor, hydraulic – any suggestions? Thanks all!

       

      Ken

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    • #69417
      CLOC-AdminCLOC-Admin
      Keymaster

          I have Bigfoot Jacks on my 2011 Cameo and they are great.   If I bought a new trailer, I’d want them on that.

           

          B.W.Gentry
          Owner/Admin
          2007 Carri-Lite XTRM5
          Breckenridge, TX

          #69418
          WellfooledWellfooled
          Participant
            • Topics - 9
            • Replies - 19
            • Total - 28

            Another vote for Bigfoot. They were one of the selling points when we were looking at Carriage back in the 2011 time frame, and I wouldn’t ever go back to any kind of manual system. If I was starting from scratch, I’d probably also look at the six jack systems that Lippert makes, although I’m not that big a fan of most of Lippert’s stuff.

            #69419
            OlympicFoxOlympicFox
            Participant
              • Topics - 4
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              • Total - 21

              The gears on the left landing gear jack of our 2008 Carriage Cameo broke catastrophically the day after we bough the RV last Fall.  Fortunately, I had a couple of hydraulic bottle jacks and ample cribbing so we were able to lift the trailer enough to get it hitched back up for the rest of the 1,500 mile drive home.

              Our previous Arctic Fox 5th wheels used a single electric motor system like that on our 2008 Carriage Cameo.   Terribly slow, but they work.  OTOH, our 2007 Excel Limited was equipped with hydraulic landing gear supplied by a substantial remote pump and reservoir.  By comparison, they worked like a low-rider Chevy bouncing the front of his car off the ground!  :-)  Once the motor spooled up and built up hydraulic pressure, the front of the trailer rose top hitch height very quickly.  Sweet.

              I looked into the idea of upgrading to hydraulic landing gear briefly, and abandoned the idea as too expensive.  The systems that I was looking at were several thousand.

              After being unsuccessful getting the right parts from eTrailer or Amazon, I called Venture Mfg and got the correct landing gear (unique for Carriage) including the upgrade to dual motors for about $900.  The good news is that it works well, although no faster than before.  If I had known about Bigfoot Hydraulic Systems and if their complete system cost only $1660 as it appears on their website, I would have gone that route instead.

              Steve & C. J.
              2008 Carriage Cameo 32SB2
              2019 Ram 3500 SRW 4X4, Cummins 6.7 HO

              #69420
              KbergevinKbergevin
              Participant
              Participant
                • Topics - 2
                • Replies - 1
                • Total - 3

                Great suggestions that I will look into. I definitely need more than the single motor electric, gear-box destroying set up I currently have. If you go to a dual motor set up do you need to beef up the electrical circuit? I want to look at dual motor as well as hydraulic. All suggestions are greatly appreciated!

                KB

                #69677
                CameotysCameotys
                Participant
                  • Topics - 2
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                  • Total - 5

                  I have a 2009 Cameo 32 FWS and was having real concerns with the electric front landing gear last summer. At one point I had to manually crank the front end while a friend ran the electric gear because it could no longer lift the trailer by itself. This Spring I removed the front landing gear and replaced the system with a 4 point Bigfoot auto levelling hydraulic system that I installed myself. All I can say is what a difference! The new system is way faster, never bogs down (the power is incredible) and my wife no longer has to put her hands between the wheels to place blocks for levelling the trailer because it now self levels. It lifts the entire trailer off of its wheels without even groaning which means tire changes will be very simple as well.

                  There is no doubt that it is a pricey retrofit but we love our trailer and intend to keep it for a long time. I thought about just replacing the front jacks with hydraulics but I am so pleased that we went with the 4 point system instead. Quadra manufacturing was very easy to deal with and shipped everything to me here in Canada with no issues at all. I have taken pictures of the entire retrofit and intend to post it on this site as soon as I get time (I retire at the end of August and will have time then). I did look at a double electric motor system but felt that the hydraulic system was worth the price differential.

                  If you end up going the Bigfoot route I would be happy to discuss the install further with you.

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